Hi all, mostly lurker here but recently wanting to upgrade from our 2005 Mastercraft X10. We didn't grow up boating so the X10 was our first boat. We've had it a few years now, have fallen in love with spending time on the water with family and friends, and now that we know a bit more about it and what we'd actually want out of a boat, are considering upgrading to something that better fits our needs.
Can you help me narrow down the search for a used boat in the $100-120k range? Very loose budget, could be more or less if necessary.
Major things I'd like to improve upon from the X10:
- Space. We are almost always with another family of four, so 8 people minimum, sometimes 10. With that many people, the X10 just gets super cramped.
- Surfing quality and convenience: We have a ton of extra ballast in the X10 and it puts out a pretty decent surf wake but it's a royal PITA to set up and take-down (three manual-filled bags plus integrated onboard bags plus attaching wakeshaper). My goal for a new boat would be that we don't have to fill bags manually or attach a wakeshaper, that the conversion to surfing would be a lot faster and more or less push-button, and that the wave itself would have more push.
Here's how we generally use the boat:
The kids are young so we do a lot of tubing but I think they will move more toward wakeboarding or surfing in the future. The adults do a fair amount of wakeboarding and wake surfing, but the focus is shifting more to surfing and we would do a lot more of it if it were more convenient to set up. We do some good old fashioned sunset-cruising and just tooling around. We explore mountain lakes a lot and just beach the boat on the sand, and wouldn't want to lose that ability.
What we're considering / have looked at:
I think we're in the 23' zone, and have looked at the ~23' Mastercrafts, Malibus, and Natiques, and all of them would probably work fine, but they all seem way too nice for us amateurs (haha). Not against buying one if it's the right fit, just seems like we ought to consider some other options. If we did buy one of those brands, I'm guessing it would be in the 2015-2018 range, and I'm wondering what you lose in that generation of boats over something newer (and whether or not they have the push-button capability and wave quality we're looking for). Certainly open to other recommendations as well.
Thanks for the read, and look forward to seeing responses!
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